Carmelo Anthony becomes second player in NBA history to start first 1,000 career games

From the moment Carmelo Anthony joined the Thunder, the question as to whether or not he would come off of the bench was asked, and Anthony famously dismissed it in his first press conference with the team.

One thing we knew about Anthony from that moment was that playing off the bench was something he hadn’t considered, but did you know that it was something that Anthony has never done in his NBA career? Not even once?

Sometimes, when a player is returning after a significant injury or after a long absence, they’re brought back into their first game off the bench and given some limited minutes to wet their feet. There have also been times when an NBA player, as a form of punishment, is held out of the starting lineup for a transgression.

Well, maybe it’s not an accomplishment, but it’s definitely a thing. And it becomes even more interesting considering the fact that there are many people that believe the Thunder would be better served with Anthony coming off the bench.

What makes this even more interesting is the following…

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and literally every single other player you can name has come off the bench at least once during their first 1,000 career appearances…

Every other player except Hall of Famer and former Knick Patrick Ewing.

Remarkably, although Ewing missed quite a bit of time over the course of his 17-year NBA career, he started every single game he played in through the first 16 years of his career—1,118 appearances.

Ewing didn’t come off of the bench until the the 2001-02 season—his 17th and final season in which he played 13.9 minutes per game for the Magic.

So, Anthony and Ewing are the only players in NBA history, at least to this point, to start in each of their first 1,000 appearances.

In case you’re wondering, LeBron James started in 999 of his first 1,000 career appearances. His lone appearance off the bench came on December 11, 2007, during his first stint with the Cavaliers. James had missed the team’s previous five games with a sprained left index finger and made his return on the night in question to help spark the Cavs to a 118-105 victory over the Pacers. It was the only game in his career in which he didn’t start.

Tim Duncan started in 998 of his first 1,000 career games, with one bench appearance coming during the 2003-04 season and the other coming during the 2009-10 season.

Former Trail Blazer Buck Williams rounds out the top five, as he too started in 998 of his first 1,000 career games.

In case you’re wondering, Russell Westbrook came off the bench the first 17 games of his career, so he won’t be joining the list. Kevin Durant and Chris Paul could, though. While each still has a long way to go before hitting the 1,000-game plateau, Durant has started in all 725 of his career appearances while Paul has done the same through the first 843 games of his career.

So, there’s your fun fact of the day: Anthony joins another former Knick in Patrick Ewing as being the only NBA players in history to not come off the bench in any of their first 1,000 career games.

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Moke Hamilton

Moke Hamilton is a writer and columnist for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NBA Wire. Based in New York City, Moke has covered the NBA for seven seasons, previously working for Turner Sports and NBC Universal. He can be heard from time to time on the airwaves of 98.7FM ESPN New York.